Birkie Fun 2013

As usual Birkie weekend was full of guaranteed fun.  We woke up Friday morning to snow that lasted all day.   Pre Birkie activities along main street were especially magical in the fluffy snow.  For the first time, we put together a giant ski team and had our 1 minute and 16 seconds of "skiing" glory up main street.  Pre giant ski we mentally prepared ourselves for public humiliation.  Eliz, spectated by the wayside with camera in tow to document.  She even went so far as to say, "If you don't fall, I will buy the first 2 pitchers of beer."  Always excellent motivation for our group.  

Main street

Our giant ski team nervously waiting for our turn.

The "LOL I'm Just Kitten" Giant Ski Team!

Emily Wise, looking extra awesome.

Kara and me!

 Post Giant Ski celebrations.  I love the photo bombing Vikings!  We didn't fall once and redeemed our two pitchers afterwards at The Moccasin Bar.

 Mer and me.  I love her in that hat. 

Down to business at the start with Eliz and Kara.

 Waiting for my wave to start!

 Fresh snow made the trails sloppy, but the trees especially gorgeous.

 Dedicated cheering and drinking fans. 

Birkie Hat 2013

As long as we are on the subject of fairisle...again.  I am so happy with my 2013 Hat. I found this amazing sparkle yarn at Steven Be and had to have it.  I envisioned a gradient of some sort and picked up a variety of purple to work with.  It was a bit tricky to knit due to the nature of my design.  The floats were a bit long and in some parts I had to knit 3 color fairisle, which is never ideal and certainly not traditional.  Sometimes it's worth it to break the rules.  F.Y.I.  Birkie Hat 2012 and 2011. 

I've been getting a lot of use out of Birkie hat 2013.  Here I am enjoying Belgian waffles dipped in a chocolate, an awesome idea hosted by the Loppet Foundation.

More Fairisle

 A last minute hat for our last minute Birkie supporter, Meredith.  I whipped up these two hats in less than a week.  I chose Emerald, Meredith's color of choice, paired back to charcoal in a traditional Scandinavian pattern.  While I was picking out my yarn at Needleworks Unlimited, a multi colored hand painted skien caught my eye and I immediately thought of Eliz.  Sooo... I decided she needed a new hat as well.  I chose a scrolled motif and was knitting right up to the wire.  It was worth it. 

Fairisle

It is an unwritten rule that if you are a newbie Birkie supporter, I will knit you a fairisle hat.  I had so much fun knitting 2012 Birkie hats.  See here and here.  I had so much fun knitting designing and knitting 2013 Birkie Hats.  For Ann, I chose a true green slightly variegated yarn with a soft heathered alpaca.  For Katie, I wanted something a little quirkier and landed on a hand painted mallard ground with a minty geometric contrast.  The pom pom was especially fun to craft.  Katie is just a pom pom kind of gal.

Weekend Fun: Babbling

The Beer Dabbler is starting to become a bit of a tradition for us.  This year we decided to make extra special necklaces full of other treats besides pretzels.  Mine started looking a little tribal, but I was thankful for the snacks after countless beer tastings.  This time we were given a real glass tasting glass.  Not sure who thought that was a good idea.  A cacophony of sound contagiously erupted from the crowd, if you were one of the unlucky few to break one.  As per usual, my favorite part was the silent disco.  Dancing transformed even the coldest appendages into a toasty sauna.  Emily and I were too impatient to wait in line and stormed the entrance and danced sans music.  We belted out our favorite karaoke songs and, in retrospect, probably looked ridiculous.  This cold weather really does bring the kooky out of you.

Off the loom

I finally finished these baby blankets in waffle and plain weave blocks.  I threaded a cream warp and experimented with my weft colors.  The pale violet is my favorite.  I'm taking a mini weaving break in lieu of easily portable projects.  

Socks...Again

It's been a while since my last sock obsession.  The bad news is I relapsed into a frenzy of sock knitting.  The good news is I focused on baby socks and used up stash.  Last year, we celebrated Ashley's pregnancy with a sock knitting baby shower.  It was a blast.